The Nation, then known as Kanien'kehake (people of the flint) was one of the five founding Nations of the Iroquois League (or confederacy). The name was given to the tribe by the Algonquin and was later adopted by the Europeans who had difficulty pronouncing Kanien'kehake. The other Nations in the Confederacy were the Cayuga, the Seneca, the Oneida, and the Onondaga. The sixth Nation to join were the Tuscarora.
In addition to historical documents, you will find a retelling of the Prophecy of the Seventh Generation, an explanation of the commonly see symbols and designs of the Haudenosaunee, and a complete online edition of James Fenimore Cooper's 1826 novel, The Last of the Mohicans. Although it is about the Mohicans, a tribe which had been conquered by the , the novel is representative of the life of Northeastern tribes and their dealings with the Europeans, and often contains references to the .
Finally, as the Mohawk are the keepers of the Eastern Door, we seek to serve as a doorway towards other online resources and have also included a discussion board so that you may exchange ideas, comments, ask questions, and find the answers you seek.
We plan to update the site with more documents and stories in the future, so be sure to visit regularly.
This article is about the people known as . For other uses, see (disambiguation).
Mohawk (borrowed from the Narraganset 'mohowaùuck', 'they eat (animate) things,' hence 'man-eaters'[1]) are the most easterly tribe of the Iroquois confederation. They call themselves Kanien'gehaga, people of the place of the flint. Kanien'kehá:ka ("People of the Place of Flint") are an Iroquoian-speaking indigenous people of North America originally from the Mohawk Valley in upstate . Their territory ranged to present-day southern Quebec and eastern Ontario. Their current settlements include areas around Lake Ontario and the St Lawrence River inCanada. Their traditional homeland stretched southward of the River, eastward to the Green Mountains of Vermont, westward to the border with the Oneida Nation traditional homeland territory, and northward to the St Lawrence River. As original members of the Iroquois League, or Haudenosaunee, the Mohawk were known as the "Keepers of the Eastern Door". For hundreds of years, they guarded the Iroquois Confederation against invasion from that direction by tribes from the New England and lower New York areas. Mohawk religion is predominantlyAnimist.
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Thayendanegea or Joseph Brant, painted byGilbert Stuart, 1786
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